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Woods
Woods is an optional encounter in the The Wizard in the Tower mission hub on Nightmare difficulty only. It comes after Red Plain. Enemies *Soulstealer (990 Gold, 91 XP, 55 Energy, 20 HP) *Loquax Demon (1080 Gold, 100 XP, 60 Energy, 25 HP) *Gazrashesha (7500 Gold, 510 XP, 300 Energy, 1 HP) Transcript Introduction You make your way through the trees, brushing aside ash-colored foliage that resembles smoke rising up from the red fire of the grass beneath. Sounds of shouting and singing filter between the leaves and trunks, drawing you onward as you seek their source. The words are incomprehensible, some of them more reminiscent of cracking bones than any civilized tongue. But you notice that Brachus is humming along to whatever demonic ditty you're hearing. "Ah..." He drops the tune with an unmistakable sigh of regret. "Gazrashesha. My favorite concubine." "Gaz..." Hugh murmurs, with a faraway look on his face. "He saw her in my memories," Brachus explains, "and found her captivating. Everyone finds her captivating..." "She's a succubus, isn't she?" you ask. "A mistress among her kind. She can charm anyone with her powers -- man or woman, human or demon. Make sure none of you stare at her eyes. Or her lips. Or her breasts. Or her legs. Even her raised eyebrow may be enough to ensorcell you." "No one stares at the demon whore," Tessa instructs those behind as you move onwards. You soon reach the edge of a clearing, having traced the sounds of riotous living to their origin, and gaze with amazement at the sight before you. In that open space, nestled in the midst of the encircling grey woods, is a throng of hideous, twisted infernal beings. You see imps, shoving, squirming and leaping as they try to find space for their diminutive bodies in the crowd. There are creatures shaped like great hounds, their dark flesh riddled with glowing red and orange channels. Other beings resemble men in shape and size, but for the strange hues of their flesh and the horns or tails they sport. It's as though hell were shaken, and a haphazard assortment of its denizens poured out upon the surface of Tor'gyyl. But what's even more remarkable than their strange and varied natures is what they're doing. The creatures are sitting and standing in a great semi-circle, all their gazes fixed upon a makeshift stage of piled and leveled earth. Upon that stage is... "Don't look at her," Brachus hisses. You yank your drifting gaze away from the stage, forcing yourself to focus on the crowd instead. Your stare moves from face to face, and sees just how enthralled those hellish beings are. Imps are cackling, cavorting, even... swooning? Hellhounds pant, their fiendish tongues rolling out between their vicious teeth. Creatures that you recognize as incubi from woodcut illustrations are leering with rapt expressions on their devilish yet handsome faces, the she-demon on the stage able to exercise such influence even on those who would normally beguile humans in the same way. As you look on, one of those creatures reaches a clawed hand down towards his loins... You look away, a slight flush in your cheeks. None of the books you've read ever mentioned demons doing anything like that... Movement at the edge of your perception catches your attention as you snatch your gaze away from the auto-amorous incubus, and you glimpse the figure on the stage. Suddenly the demons' behavior seems like the most understandable thing in the world. The demoness gyrates like a seductive serpent, the purple curves of her body twisting in slow, sensuous movements -- in perfect harmony with the notes of her melodious song. She's... gorgeous. A violet vision. But you don't see why Brachus told you not to look at her. Does that damned demon think you can't control yourself? "What are you doing?" hisses Tessa. And what's she whining about? Why shouldn't you step from the trees and get a closer look? It's then that the demon-woman becomes aware of your presence. Her dark eyes meet yours, and... And she's not a demon. What sorcery did Brachus use to make you believe she was a fiend like him? She's... angelic -- her ivory skin as perfect as silvery moonlight, her blonde tresses like streams of warm, soft gold. And those eyes... "Do you like what you see?" the woman asks, her voice a caress that makes your flesh tingle with the promise of a thousand delights. The world around her is blurred, made worthless and nonexistent by her radiance. The trees are gone, the... were there other beings there? No, there was never anyone else. Just you and she, in all of creation. Her lips shape a smile that would spur armies to war and poets to greatness. You step towards her, to the waiting embrace where sensuality meets the divine. Then something flashes in front of your vision, and your nose explodes. Through a haze of pain, and watering eyes, you see a succubus -- wearing a look of vexation that turns her lovely face into a sinister mask. Behind her stands her audience, their eyes now trained on you and your companions instead of on her purple flesh. "Are you with us, or do you need another backhand?" Tessa asks. "I'm good," you manage, wondering if your nose is truly in the state it seems -- smeared across the rest of your features like jam upon a scone. Hugh's rotund form rolls out in front of you, moving between you and the succubus. You're about to reach out and pull him back to safety when she speaks. "Why isn't-" she begins. "Even in this weak, pathetic body-" "Oi!" Hugh exclaims, his voice blurting out before being submerged once more. "-you still have no power over me unless I choose to succumb to your delights." He glances at you over his round shoulder. "Incubi and succubi lose their influence over those who've had carnal knowledge of them." "Brach'Xell'Ctharat'Sezrachus?" she says, her lithe tongue shaping each syllable with effortless perfection. "I've come to take back what's mine," he replies. There's a moment of silence. Then the woman laughs -- a laugh both alluring and withering, a shriek of mirth and seductive scorn, disdain wrapped in beauty as if to display that which will forever be beyond its target's reach. That single sound, which only a succubus' lips could utter, carries such force of meaning, such finality, that Brachus' shoulders slump with acceptance. Any demands, any argument, would only serve to heighten his humiliation. "I've no time for a broken prince caged in a gluttony demon's body," she says. "Bloody women," Hugh grunts. "You're all the same -- even the damned ones." "To you, human, yes. We'll always reject you, from dwarf to demon." She waves her hand as though dismissing a menial. "As for you, my prince, I believe it's time to repay your former 'tenderness' with some of my own. Perhaps I'll flay you with my whip..." "Wretched harlot! When we've beaten you to within an inch of your worthless life, I'll let my host crush you beneath his bulk and ravish you!" "Yeah!" Hugh yells. With that threat and war cry, each undoubtedly unique in the annals of martial history, the battle begins. Conclusion Brachus stands in the middle of the sea of slaughter, among the butchered fiends and dismembered demons, looking down upon the succubus' body. "A promise is a promise," he says. "If you still wish to ravish her..." "She's dead!" Hugh replies. "Her head's smashed open like a blooming melon!" "Such a waste..." Brachus murmurs Category:The Wizard in the Tower